Mrs. Annette Coward, passed away Thursday, July 30, 2026.

Funeral service will be held Thursday, August 6, 2026 9:30 am Cassie Coote Brown Memorial Chapel at Perry J. Brown Funeral Home 909 East Market Street Greensboro, North Carolina. Visitation 9 am. Burial will follow at Lakeview Memorial Park 3600 North O' Henry Boulevard Greensboro, North Carolina.

Annette D. Coward, 90, of Raleigh, North Carolina, was born January 16, 1936, in Yanceyville, North Carolina.

A lifelong educator and lover of music, Annette graduated from Caswell County Training School and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She later completed a Master of Arts in Music Education at Boston University and earned a certification in library science.

Her teaching career began in Roanoke, Virginia, where she taught music for four years. She then moved to Fairfax County, Virginia, where she taught music at the county's last segregated high school. It was there that she met Adolphus M. Coward, Jr., the school's shop teacher; they married in December 1963. After integration, she taught music at several intermediate schools before turning to library science and serving as librarian at Annandale High School. She retired from Fairfax County Public Schools in 1990, closing a career that spanned thirty-eight years in education.

In retirement, Annette returned to her native North Carolina, settling in Chapel Hill in 2006 and later moving to Greensboro, where she was closer to family. She spent her final years in Raleigh, surrounded by friends. She was a devoted reader, a faithful student of the Bible, and an avid sports fan who especially enjoyed watching football and car racing. She was a member of St. Matthews United Methodist Church in Greensboro.

She was preceded in death by her husband of fifty-two years, Adolphus M. Coward, Jr., who died in May 2016; her parents, Nicholas Longworth Dillard and Gladys Motley Dillard; and her brother, Anthony Dillard.

Annette is survived by her son, Roderick L. Coward, and his wife, Lauren Bergey, of New Windsor, New York; her nephew, Graham Dillard (Esther Dillard), of Ridgefield, New Jersey; her niece, Charlene Dillard, of Greensboro; and many cousins and friends.

Annette was a woman of great sweetness and generosity of spirit. Those who knew her will remember her warmth, her faith, and the kindness she extended to everyone who came into her life.